This invention pertains to milking parlor structures, and, more particularly, to an improved milking parlor construction over that conventionally found in the prior art.
The prior art is well aware of milking barn constructions or parlors of the modern type wherein a milking pit is sandwiched between juxtapositioned cattle stands wherein cattle are allowed to enter the milking parlor structure to be milked and to incidentally be fed. The feeding acts as an enticement to attract the individual dairy cattle to the individual stations at which milking of the cow may take place.
Exemplary of prior art structures is U.S. Pat. No. 4,419,961 to Vandenberg et al, which discloses a milking parlor construction including a basic module that comprises a hollow vertical upright member from which the feed bowl and accompanying shroud and individual exit gates forming the individual milking stations may be hung, wherein the vertical member is securely supported in concrete or, alternatively, supported through a plate and bolt mechanism which in turn is tied to the concrete floor making up the milking parlor structure.
Additionally, the vertical upright member is of hollow construction and has superpositioned thereover a feed conveyor and the like which feeds fodder to the individual vertical upright members, which have communication to the feed bowls by which fodder may be fed thereto. Since the vertical uprights are of sturdy steel construction and have appropriately spaced tie-in support structure, a rigid end-structure results which is not easily misaligned due to the passage of cattle through the structure.
The exit gate is pivotally mounted on the hollow vertical upright member and is adapted to move between an open and a closed position. Means are provided to move the gate between the two positions.
While the milking parlor disclosed and claimed in the above-referenced patent is suitable for the purposes set forth therein, it is limited in its use to barns having a considerable amount of room to accommodate the outward movement of the exit gate. There are many milking barns that could take advantage of many of the other salient features of the claimed milking parlor, but which are too narrow to utilize the pivotal gate.
Thus, whether in existing milking barns containing space limitations or in new milking barns that are constrained to limited dimensions, there is a need to provide a milking parlor that utilizes the modular construction within a limited space.